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RR RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHSA #4244/01 3611037
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271037Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3029
INFO RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 5173
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 9456
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 7800
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 004244 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF AND H 
S/OFFICE OF GLOBAL AIDS COORDINATOR, BHAVNA PATEL 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USAID GLOBAL HEALTH BUREAU 
HHS PLEASE PASS TO OFFICE OF GLOBAL HEALTH AFFAIRS, WILLIAM 
STEIGER AND SAMUEL ANDENIYI-JONES 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON KHIV OREP PREL SF SOCI
SUBJECT: CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA 
SPOTLIGHTS USG PEPFAR EFFORTS TO FIGHT HIV AND AIDS 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  A delegation representing the Congressional 
Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) led by Congresswoman Barbara 
Lee (Dem., Calif.), Del. Donna M. Christensen (Dem., Virgin 
Islands) and CBCF President Dr. Elsie Scott, visited South 
Africa November 27 - December 2, 2008.  The delegation met 
with Minister of Social Development Dr. Zola Skweyiya, 
Minister of Education Naledi Pandor and Archbishop Desmond 
Tutu.  The visit occurred and was centered on World AIDS Day 
(WAD) and highlighted HIV/AIDS issues and the President's 
Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program in South 
Africa.  CBCF has played an important role in ensuring that 
the African continent becomes an important global strategic 
partner to the United States.  With its focus on public 
health, leadership education and economic development, CBCF 
is looking to expand its reach in these areas internationally 
and to develop relationships abroad that will ultimately 
allow access to a dynamic pool of quality programs and 
services geared toward empowering black people and other 
underserved populations overseas.  End Summary 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Structural and Capacity Issues Cited by Ministers 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The delegation met Minister of Social Development 
Skewyiya, whose ministry works closely with the USG PEPFAR 
team on issues surrounding orphans and vulnerable children 
(OVC).  Skewyiya admitted that structures to look after OVC 
are lacking in South Africa, especially since many of the 
traditional extended families that would normally care for 
OVC have been decimated by AIDS.  Skewyiya explained that 
faith-based organizations (FBOs) are among the only presence 
in rural areas and that it is important for the churches to 
be involved in rural social support efforts and for the 
government to work with them.  He noted that thousands of 
orphans are not registered and that there are insufficient 
social workers, as well as insufficient government workers, 
to administer the system.  He stated that many of the 
problems that surround assistance to OVC are due more to a 
lack of an effective bureaucracy, than to a lack of funding. 
Skewyiya commented that "expectations for South Africa are 
too high, the pressure to do all too big" and that these 
important social issues will likely be lost amidst the 
upcoming political debate on ANC leadership. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The delegation also met Education Minister Pandor, 
who expressed her concern with the high-level of HIV 
infection in teachers and acknowledged PEPFAR support for the 
National Department of Education's HIV and AIDS peer 
education programs for learners.  She noted that South 
Africa's Medical Research Council has reviewed some 
successful behavior change interventions in Kwa-Zulu Natal 
Province and will replicate one of their programs that was 
found to both educate students and alter behaviors.  Although 
South Africa has achieved almost universal access to 
education, the Minister noted that many of the challenges she 
faces are a legacy of apartheid, including inequalities in 
the system and poor infrastructure.  She pointed to the 
overarching challenges of educational transformation that 
Qoverarching challenges of educational transformation that 
will require greatly improving teacher quality and putting 
monitoring and evaluation systems in place.   The Department 
is looking at ways to actively recruit educational 
administrators, especially in finance and management of 
higher education and would welcome recruits from abroad. 
Foundation President Scott noted that recruitment of 
educational personnel may be a possible area of collaboration 
between the Department of Education and the CBCF.  The 
Ministry is also looking at ways to attract more black 
students to vocational training and to achieve gender parity 
in areas such as science and math.  The Minister mentioned 
the role that South Africa is playing as a regional leader in 
Africa, suggesting that the United States may be able to 
support South Africa through trilateral partnerships. 
Representative Lee invited the Minister to come to Washington 
to meet with historically black college and university 
presidents and exchange lessons learned. 
 
¶4. (U) The Delegation met briefly with Archbishop Tutu in a 
rare meeting at the Embassy.  The Archbishop was in Pretoria 
delivering a WAD speech in which he called for enhanced 
 
PRETORIA 00004244  002 OF 002 
 
 
public leadership to fight the epidemic.  Representative Lee 
had met the Archbishop during his prior travels to the U.S. 
 
------------------------- 
World AIDS Day Activities 
------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The Delegation took part in many WAD Activities. 
During these events, Congresswoman Lee chronicled her 
intensive involvement in writing the initial PEPFAR 
legislation and both Congresswomen emphasized their 
commitment to increase funding for the PEPFAR program and to 
eliminate earmarks and limitations on it.  They highlighted 
the importance of counseling and testing and were publicly 
tested at several sites. 
 
¶6. (U) WAD activities attended by the delegation included 
speaking at a New Start HIV/AIDS testing site in Zola, 
Soweto, a public-private partnership with Levi Strauss and 
PEPFAR.  This is part of Levi's Red for Life Initiative that 
attracts youth to counseling and testing with concerts and 
musicians.  The Congresswomen led by example by getting 
tested publicly and were impressed with New Start's very 
thorough pre-and post-test counseling as well as the site's 
enhanced efforts for confidentiality.  The Congresswomen also 
spoke at a breakfast of the Global Business Coalition on 
HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Johannesburg, at which 
Ambassador Bost delivered the keynote speech.  Later, the 
delegation had a lively exchange about HIV and AIDS with a 
group of students at the Embassy's Rosa Parks Library in 
Johannesburg. 
 
¶7. (U) On November 30, the Congresswomen spoke at a WAD 
ceremony at the Embassy that was co-sponsored by the 
Diplomatic Association of Pretoria.  The podium was set 
against the backdrop of an American flag encircled by a 
mammoth red AIDS ribbon almost as high as the building 
itself.  The event included a mobile testing facility and 
encouraged the diplomatic community to lead by example.  The 
Congesswomen were once again publicly tested. 
 
¶8. (U) The Delegation also met with Johnson & Johnson 
executives and visited several Johnson & Johnson sponsored 
sites.  These included visits to the Burn Center and HIV 
Support Unit at the Chris Hani Baragwaneth Hospital in 
Johannesburg and travel to Limpopo Province to attend a 
Humana Person-to-Person, Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE) 
Program for World AIDS Day.  Although this particular project 
is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, PEPFAR funds other TCE 
locations. 
 
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Comment 
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¶9. (SBU) The Delegation was well-received by the SAG, meeting 
with two Ministers and receiving an initial positive response 
from the Minister of Trade and Industry, although scheduling 
conflicts prevented that meeting from taking place.  This 
reception was significantly warmer than normally extended to 
visiting delegations.  This is likely due to CBCF support of 
the ANC during apartheid and the CBCF's traditional focus on 
public health, leadership education and economic development 
issues. 
BOST